Falkirk

Undiscovered Scotland: The Ultimate Online Guide

Falkirk lies at the heart of central Scotland. Long on
the main road from Edinburgh
to Stirling, it is also at the
meeting point of Scotland's two major lowland canals and is served by the
country's busiest railway line, from
Edinburgh to
Glasgow. When you add its role
as the engine of the industrial revolution in Scotland, Falkirk emerges as an
important town with a lot to offer the visitor: but an often under-appreciated
one.

Old Sheriff
Court

Falkirk Old
Parish Church

St Francis
Xavier's RC Church

Union Inn

High Street

This is changing following the completion of the
Falkirk Wheel. Opened in 2002, this is
an engineering wonder equal to anything the Victorians achieved. It links the
Firth and Clyde Canal to the Union
Canal, allowing the full return to use of both after many decades of
closure. Replacing a flight of 11 locks, the
Falkirk Wheel is returning Falkirk to
the must-see lists of visitors to central Scotland.

Antonine Wall at
Watling Lodge

Rough Castle Roman
Fort

Callendar
House, South Side

Falkirk Wheel

Commemoration of the Battle of Falkirk, 1298

But there's much more to Falkirk than the Wheel. Alongside the main
approach road to the Falkirk Wheel from the centre of town, at Watling Lodge,
is a wonderfully preserved stretch of the Antonine Wall. Less well known than
Hadrian's Wall, this 37 mile turf wall and ditch was built in AD142-3 during
one of the Romans' several excursions into Scotland. It runs right through
Falkirk, and the wall can also be traced to the east of the town centre in the
grounds of Callendar House. Perhaps the best preserved stretch of the wall lies
half a mile west of the Falkirk Wheel:
at Rough Castle Roman Fort.

Another of Falkirk's attractions is
Callendar House, which would look
more at home in central France than in central Scotland. With a 300ft long
frontage this incredible château evolved through many stages from its
origins as a castle around 1400.

Falkirk lists, amongst its other claims to fame, the sites of two
battles. The first took place on 22 July 1298 and proved to be the battle at
which William Wallace
lost the advantage he had earlier gained over the English at the Battle of
Stirling Bridge. Today the battle is commemorated by a memorial on the edge of
Victoria Park, on the north side of Falkirk, though many believe the battle
actually took place on a site now just to the east of the town.

The Second Battle of Falkirk, or the Battle of Falkirk Muir, took
place some 450 years later, on 17 January 1746. Here
Bonnie Prince
Charlie's Jacobites defeated Government forces pursuing them, but then
failed to capitalise on their victory. This was on the south west edge of
today's Falkirk and the site is marked by an obelisk.

Falkirk's focal position was recognised early in its life. By 1710
the Falkirk Tryst had been established to the south of the town; this was a
market held from August to October each year at which Highland cattle driven
from all parts of of the Highlands and Islands were sold to buyers who then
drove them on to England or slaughtered and processed them locally. Over the
1700s Falkirk gradually replaced Crieff as the centre of this trade.

Today's Falkirk is a pleasant town centred on its pedestrianised
High Street. The main landmark is the Steeple, a 140ft high building erected in
the market place in 1814. The Steeple was struck by lightning in 1927 and the
top 30ft collapsed, killing an unlucky horse. It was later rebuilt. Behind the
Steeple is Tolbooth Street, reputedly Britain's shortest street at 5ft long.
This manages to house the Tolbooth Cafe and the Tolbooth Tavern, the latter
carrying a sign proclaiming it to be the Tollbooth Tavern, a typo many of us
have perpetrated in our time.

Overlooking the High Street is Falkirk Old Parish Church. Dating
back to various periods from 1450 to 1892 the church is only the latest of a
series on this site, probably dating back as far as the AD600s. One of the
earlier churches, built here in 1057, became known because of its appearance as
Eglesbreth, the Cumbric for "Speckled Church". This translated into Scots as
"Faw Kirk", which over time became "Falkirk".